The idea behind the TouchArcade Game of the Week is that every Friday afternoon we post the one game that came out this week that we think is worth giving a special nod to. Now, before anyone goes over-thinking this, it doesn’t necessarily mean our Game of the Week pick is the highest scoring game in a review, the game with the best graphics, or really any other quantifiable “best" thing. Instead, it’s more just us picking out the single game out of the week’s releases that we think is the most noteworthy, surprising, interesting, or really any other hard to describe quality that makes it worth having if you were just going to pick up one.
These picks might be controversial, and that’s OK. If you disagree with what we’ve chosen, let’s try to use the comments of these articles to have conversations about what game is your game of the week and why.
Without further ado…
Metal Slug Defense
Our Game of the Week this week came completely out of the blue, but it was definitely a pleasant surprise. Despite not announcing it to the world beforehand, SNK Playmore had been working on taking their legendary Metal Slug action-platforming series and reworking it to be a free to play castle defense game for mobile devices. The result is Metal Slug Defense (Free), and although I’d never have imagined Metal Slug in this particular light, I can’t get over just how well it works. Metal Slug’s incredible pixel art heroes and vehicles fit perfectly in a castle defense scenario.
While Metal Slug Defense doesn’t drastically reinvent the castle defense genre, it does have its own little flourishes that make it feel unique amongst its peers. Your units have a secondary attack which can be triggered by tapping on the unit, giving a bit of a “hands on" feel to gameplay that is largely just “sit back and watch" in other games. The titular Metal Slug vehicles themselves also make an appearance as a special, powerful offensive move you can call upon to give you a hand. Besides the numerous single-player campaign levels to play through, all of which can be replayed to earn various types of goals, Metal Slug Defense also has an online multiplayer component, so you can battle it out with real players from around the world.
As a free to play game, Metal Slug Defense seems pretty typical and fair. Everything from new unit types and upgrades can all be earned just through playing, or the process can be sped up if you feel like dropping some moolah on it. If you’re a fan of Metal Slug or these types of castle defense games, I really recommend at least downloading and trying Metal Slug Defense. The players in our forums have given it a positive reception, and it’s definitely become my surprise favorite release of the week.
